£4.9m for a home energy management system in UK

A project worth £4.9 million to reduce energy usage and costs is to be developed. The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) is investing in the project which aims to accelerate the […]

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By Jacqueline Echevarria

Wednesday 28 October 2015

Image: Thinkstock

A project worth £4.9 million to reduce energy usage and costs is to be developed.

The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) is investing in the project which aims to accelerate the development of an advanced customer-orientated Home Energy Management System (HEMS).

It plans to develop an energy management system for a building that informs and enhances people’s heat experiences and is said to be more than just heating control functionality.

The two-year project is part of ETI’s Smart Systems and Heat programme to make energy and heat consumption more consumer focused.

It will be installed and tested in homes in winter 2016/17.

Donna Gandy-Wright, ETI Project Manager, Smart Systems and Heat said: “Decarbonising heat in our homes is important if we are to meet the UK’s legally binding 2050 climate change targets as around 20% of the nation’s carbon emissions are generated by domestic heating and around 90% of the 26 million homes around today are expected to be still in use in 2050. But today fewer than 4% of homes have low carbon heating and 90% prefer gas central heating given the choice.

“The HEMS project is designed to provide consumers with a range of solutions that provides better control of how they use energy in their homes as well as providing industry compelling propositions and business models for the future.”